Saving Sakura
by AmikaUchiha
Summary: If you've judged me guilty as well because of where I was born, then have your vengeance, just know that I meant it back when I told you I loved you, and it's that girl that does this for you now. Goodbye Sasuke-kun.
1. The distraction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the happy happy joy joy dance from Ren and Stimpy, don't own those two either lol. Everyone's a little OOC, especially Sakura.

"Team Kakashi, you guys have a mission, well most of you," Tsunade bellowed.  
Naruto went on his normal happy happy joy joy rant and accompanying dance, sure that Sakura would be the one sitting on the bench. Sakura just shook and slapped her head, 'how did this joker become a genin again,' she thought. "What's the mission, Lady Tsunade," Sakura asked quickly, eager to get on the road, hoping it was to retrieve Sasuke.  
Tsunade eyed everyone, "You're going to search for the Akatsuki base and report back information on any Akatsuki activity you may encounter."  
Everyone visibly deflated at that news, all were in the same hopes as Sakura. They were silent as Tsunade explained the details of the mission. After hearing said details which included leaving out a pissed off hyperactive knucklehead ninja, Naruto narrowed his eyes,"Baachan!"

Itachi and Kisame were on their way back from a recon mission. Within a couple of hours, Itachi sensed that they were being watched and quickly did a clone jutsu to get in a better position for his sharingan to be able to discern who they were. He masked his chakra and sank silently onto a tree branch directly above the unskilled spies. The real Itachi formed a genjutsu as he and his partner left the scene back toward Akatsuki. They were unaware of Kakashi and the rest of the team following at a safe distance.

He laughed inside realizing the discovered spies to be from Konoha. How fortunate that Naruto was there. 'Honestly, could they make it any easier on the Akatsuki?' he wondered.

Naruto was fidgeting. Sakura sent a warning glare in his general direction. "That's Itachi Uchiha and his partner Kisame," she whispered, "keep making noise if you want to die, Naruto. They're no one to play around with."  
He glared at her, but stopped moving around.  
Itachi smirked, honestly, as if someone would get this close to Kisame and himself and not be detected. How he was sick of Konoha sending these weaklings after him. They had well skilled AMBUs, but yet they continually insulted him by sending rookies. He was actually offended. He noticed that the Naruto was actually a substitution, it had took him a minute to realize it and was pretty impressed by that fact. The pinkette was actually alone.  
He decided to make his presence known. "It's not polite to spy you know."  
Sakura looked up and her eyes became as wide as saucers. 'Oh crap! Mega busted!' she thought with a silent curse and prayer to Kami that she didn't die a virgin at the age of 16.

"Ummm, Hi Itachi," Sakura said nervously, "Fancy meeting you here, hehe." 'Oh dear Kami, I'm a dead woman,' she thought with a gulp.  
Itachi grinned, "well at least you're smart enough to be terrified, you can relax, I'm leaning more toward letting you live just for that."  
For some reason that thought didn't go far toward easing the pinkette's mind. "Could I have that in writing," she inquired before thinking.'Yep, totally a dead woman.'  
He actually laughed. "Do you think I would honor a piece of paper, kunoichi?"  
She had no reply, she simply started backing away a little at a time, hoping he would either not notice(yeah right), or be a good enough sport to let her have a good start. Inwardly she was cursing Kakashi for suggesting that she be the distraction. At least it seemed to be working though, even if she was probably going to be sucked into a mangekyo that she'd probably never wake up from.  
"By the way," Itachi began, as he jumped to the ground lithely about ten feet in front of her,"that was a pretty good job you did on the substitution jutsu, it actually fooled me for a minute."  
Sakura backed up more as she tried to distract him with conversation,"General substitution jutsu layered with a genjutsu, but I'm sure you already knew that. Thank you for the compliment though."  
He nodded his head toward her as if to say 'you're welcome' while grinning in a way that one could only think of as the way the big bad wolf probably looked at little red riding hood. 'Where the hell is the lumberjack when you need him?' Sakura thought as she sweat dropped noticing him take a step forward. Panicked, Sakura thought, 'please hurry Kakashi.'  
Sakura felt a chakra signature that seemed familiar, but was hard to place moving toward them at lightning speed. She noticed Itachi stiffen and pull his katana out. In less than a second, he was behind her and had pulled her against him with his katana branded across her throat. Sakura was too terrified to even scream.

"Let her go,Itachi."

Her eyes went wide and darted to the new presence. He looked older, but it was definently Sasuke. She almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then remembered the murderer was still holding her hostage. Itachi had his attention solely on his little brother and would be assassin. Sakura closed her eyes and said probably her thirtieth silent prayer. She grabbed Itachi's katana cutting both her hands and pushed it away from her throat while she ducked down and then jumped behind Sasuke. Itachi's katana barely grazed her hair behind her as she'd done this.

"Hello foolish little brother," Itachi sneered, "it seems my toy has escaped me, pity, she would've been very enjoyable to play with I think."

Sasuke gave Itachi one of his death glares. "Hn, gay. Shut up and bring the real you over here for a fight."

Itachi twitched and glowered at his brother before winking and smirking in Sakura's direction. "I'll see you later, Sa-ku-ra. Just so you know, you may thank your precious Sasuke for your fate. I'll be coming to claim you soon and you will be mine, for the rest of your short life." With that, Itachi's clone came apart into multiple black birds and flew away.  
Sakura's eyes widened in horror. She had to choke back the bile. Really she didn't want to wretch on her first meeting with Sasuke in almost three years. She was sure she looked as green as she felt. She looked at Sasuke who was simply standing there looking bored at her.  
"Thank you." she said simply and turned away from him, sure that he would now leave her alone. Normally, Sakura would've begged him to come back or said anything to keep him there, but considering all that had happened and her frayed nerves, she just didn't have the emotional energy to deal with it. Sasuke said nothing, but didn't leave immediately either. Sakura barely registered this in her panic over Itachi's words. She was sure that one day soon he would come for her and she would die. She hung her head and closed her eyes, knowing that she didn't have the strength to stop him. She looked up at Sasuke over her shoulder noting that he was still looking at her in that same bored manner. She simply stared back, what was he thinking about while looking at her, she wondered. 'Maybe he's feeling a little sympathy over my upcoming demise,' she thought.  
Sasuke looked away from her and at the direction from which he'd came, then his eyes returned to her. To her it seemed as if he was internally debating something. "Come," he said simply.  
Her heart jumped in her throat. Did he mean it, she wondered. He simply jumped in the direction he'd came from and without needing another second to think about it, she followed.

Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai had managed to find the Akatsuki base, thanks to Sakura's distraction and Kisame and Itachi leading them there. Yamato had sent his clone back for Sakura a few minutes before and was waiting for a status report. It came shortly.  
Yamato looked at his team, " there was a small amount of blood on the ground, evidence of a possible skirmish and Sakura is gone. According to my clone, the blood is Sakura's."  
"Tsunade is going to destroy us if we don't find her alive. Yamato, get your clone on her trail. I'll send my clone to the Leaf to give the information on Akatsuki to Tsunade. We follow behind your clone, move out," Kakashi said materializing a shadow clone and sending it to the Leaf as they headed back to where they'd left Sakura.

Sakura had been following Sasuke for a while. He hadn't said a word the entire time. She wanted to ask him where they were going or why he'd decided to take her, but she was afraid if she did, he would change his mind and decide not to bring her after all. So she'd remained quiet and simply concentrated on following him and not slowing him down. She noticed they'd crossed into Sound territory. It made her a little nervous, but she figured that she'd be pretty safe in his company since he seemed accustomed to it. He stopped and held his hand out to her, she looked confused for a second but then put her hand in his. He teleported them the rest of the way immediately.  
They appeared in front of a large rock and looked at her as he performed a hand sign and an entrance appeared. She walked in close behind him but had to stop for a second to allow her eyes to become accustomed to the darkness as opposed to the bright sunlight. He let her for a moment and then said, "keep up." The entryway disappeared behind her and she walked behind him. She looked around, it was a stone cavern with torches along every few feet looking as if they were fed by chakra. The stone was a warm sand color and had different patterns on it. It was actually sort of pretty in her opinion. She didn't have to be told that this was Orochimaru's lair. Her nervousness returned when she realized that the owner of the liar likely had no idea of her presence or how he would react to her intrusion, even if she had been invited by Sasuke.  
She also remembered Tsunade speaking of his expirements and hoped that she wasn't fated to become a subject. She supposed that if need be, she could try to escape, although she doubted she could open the entry that they'd come through and imagined the other entrances if there were any would be likewise sealed. He stopped in front of a door after a few minutes and motioned for her to go inside. She simply decided to trust him and hoped there was no trap waiting inside. At this point she really had little choice. She walked into the room and after a brief pause, he followed her. It was a small room, the only furniture was a bed and a desk and chair. It looked like there was a bare closet in the corner and a bathroom off of the side of it.  
"You stay here," he said and turned to leave.  
"Sasuke..." she began nervously. She wanted to step toward him, but didn't, afraid that to do so would somehow cross some boundary with him. "Why did you take me with you?" Her voice was low and she cast her eyes down as she inquired of him, not fully expecting an answer.  
He looked as if he might not answer for a moment and then sighed. "It was the only way to make sure Itachi didn't carry through with his threat. Kitchen is down the corridor, six doorways to the right. I'll inform Orochimaru of your presence. Don't worry Sakura, you won't be harmed." With that he left the room.  
She sank down onto the bed. She knew her team would be worried, she hadn't stopped to even think of them when she'd made the split decision to go with Sasuke. She knew he was right, this was the only way to keep Itachi's hands off of her. She didn't fool herself of Sasuke's motivation, he was being kind, but he wasn't doing this for her. He was doing this so that Itachi wouldn't get something that he wanted. It did hurt that his only motivation was to get a small revenge against his brother, but after all this time, she really couldn't expect much more. However he didn't have to reassure her that she wouldn't be harmed, or show her any kindness in letting her know where the kitchen was. Those small facts did give her a measure of hope that maybe he wasn't completely unreachable. She did get the feeling that she shouldn't push him or try to seek him out too much. He didn't do this for desire for her friendship back, of that she was certain. She would have to handle Sasuke very carefully and respect his space or he would likely withdraw from her even more. She didn't come out of her quarters that night. Kabuto had came to her room and offered her some clothing that had belonged to one of Kabuto's scientists. She didn't ask what happened to the woman.  
She'd thanked him and he'd left immediately. She was glad that at least it seemed that Orochimaru and Kabuto weren't objecting to her presence. She knew that if they had objected, Sasuke would've either disposed of her himself or threw her out. She layed on the bed, feeling very lonely that night and was missing Naruto very much. He would've made her feel better if he'd been there. She smiled thinking of her best friend, but then frowned knowing that her disappearance would hit him very hard. First he lost Sasuke, now her. In the dark, she gave into quiet tears for her friend and her unsure fate before falling into a restless sleep.


	2. Kabutos student

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sakura woke up early as usual the next morning. For a moment, she was confused about her surroundings, but she quickly remembered the previous day's events. She still didn't quite know what to make of the developments. She decided to just go with the flow and worry about any problems as they arose, and in the mean time hope that none did. She got up and took a shower, thanking Kami that the bathroom had towels and the necessary toiletries furnished. She stared at her headband as she reentered the room and opted not to put it on, even though the action bugged her. Technically if anyone knew that she'd left with Sasuke willingly to go with him to Orochimaru, she'd automatically be a missing nin and probably an S Class. She walked to the kitchen to see about breakfast and hoped she'd run into Sasuke to see if anything was expected of her.

As luck would have it, Sasuke wasn't in the kitchen. Kabuto, however was. He smiled at her in greeting, although whether the smile was a genuine one was doubtful to Sakura. She smiled back anyway,"Good morning."

She made herself a bowl of cereal and sat at the table quietly eating. Kabuto was the first one to speak.

"You're a medical nin personally trained by Tsunade, is that correct?"  
"That's right."  
"That being the case, I'm taking you under my wing. You'll come with me after you've finished eating," Kabuto said simply as he sat to wait for her.  
She wanted to inquire about Sasuke, but nodded and finished her cereal instead. She washed her dishes and then followed Kabuto down the long corridor. After a series of twists and turns and a set of stairs, she considered asking for a map until she got used to the caverns. It truly did seem like a maze. She followed Kabuto into a room at the end of a lower corridor. It was a large room that looked like something that a mad scientist would envy. She shuddered in spite of herself, imagining all the experiments that had happened here. She wondered if Sasuke had been experimented on here.

The day consisted mostly of Kabuto finding out her skill level. So far she was not disappointing judging by his reactions. It went by surprisingly fast. At the end of the day, she still hadn't saw Sasuke even once. Sakura sighed, 'I guess he's not going to make an appearance.' Inside she knew he'd probably do his best to avoid her, after all, she never had been high on his list of favorite people. He'd always thought she was weak and annoying. He probably thought she was still just a fangirl with a huge crush. It was true that she did still love him, but she had also learned over time that most likely he would never return the feelings and that as far as romance she should just give up. So she had, but Sasuke had no way of knowing that. Only a small part of her acknowledged the fact that she'd only followed him because of her feelings, she'd simply been unable to resist him. That small hidden side of her that still thought of him as her Sasuke-kun and looked at him with utter blind adoration had won out with no argument from her rational side. It was a little disheartening as she thought that she was past that. Under the circumstances of Itachi's threat however, it was probably a good thing.

The days passed quickly, Kabuto was a pretty much constant companion, always testing her and teaching her new things. He would disappear sometimes, she assumed that he was likely tutoring Sasuke in some capacity. He was actually a pretty good teacher and she was surprised. She hadn't saw Sasuke in two weeks, which she would've thought that even in the maze would've been an impossible feat. It only proved to her that he was actively avoiding her. She refused to admit even to herself that deep down she was hurt by this, but luckily she was getting accustomed to it and not secretly looking for him when she entered a room.  
The next morning she did her usual routine of waking, shower, and then breakfast. As she walked into the kitchen, she was expecting Kabuto to be there as usual. Instead she saw Sasuke. Her heart flipped over for a second, but she immediately ignored him and went to the cupboard to get a bowl. He didn't acknowledge her presence, simply continued to eat his peeled and salted tomato as she silently prepared her cereal. She mentally raised an eyebrow at his choice of breakfast. 'Tomato for breakfast, really?' she thought. Normally she would've ate in the kitchen, but she decided perhaps in light of him being in the room, it would be better for him if she took it to the room. She started to walk out with the cereal when a voice interrupted her.  
"Kabuto prefers it if we eat in the kitchen."  
She turned and looked at him, stunned that he'd actually deemed to speak to her. She shrugged and turned around, choosing the seat farthest away from him so that she would annoy him less with her presence.  
"Hn." He replied at her choice of seats. "Still irritated with me."  
She looked at him as if he'd gone daft. Then she shook her head and smiled. "No, just giving you your space."  
He arched a black brow at her,"Decided to be less annoying?"  
She sighed,"If you're waiting for me to 'Sasuke-kun' you and bat my eyelashes, I'd advise you not to hold your breath. I got the message loud and clear Sasuke." She finished her breakfast first and got up to wash her dishes.  
He smirked at her. She turned away and continued with her task. "By the way, do you know how long I'm going to be here?"  
He shrugged, "Probably until Itachi's dead or you get strong enough to fend him off." He snorted after the last sentence.  
She narrowed her eyes on him but remained quiet. 'Maybe I should be more annoying,' she thought with an evil grin.  
Sasuke didn't miss it. He smirked at her again, "well you weren't doing very well against him on your own."  
"He's Itachi. You know very well how dangerous he is. Tell me Sasuke, how well do you think most people fare against that one, present company excluded of course." She finished the last with a smirk of her own.  
He gave her his death glare. "Why were you alone?"  
"Kakashi ordered me to distract him so that they could follow the real Itachi back to the Akatsuki base to find out the coordinates for the Leaf. Granted, I couldn't have took him out, but I could've done more. I judged that it was best to downplay my abilities and to distract him with talking. The distraction part worked, however him apparently deciding to make me a personal pet was an unforeseen side effect. I think that part was more for your benefit though, he probably thought that it might make you angry. Likely he only intends to kill me."  
"Hn."  
Kabuto entered the kitchen at that moment. "Good morning, Kabuto."  
"Come on," was all he said moving aside to let her pass. She nodded in Sasuke's direction and followed Kabuto down the hallway.  
Sasuke's eyes followed her as she left the room. "Annoying."

"You're late, I have important things to do. Don't let it happen again."  
"Sorry, Kabuto. It won't happen again." She didn't even bother trying to defend herself. After all, she hadn't seen Sasuke in nearly three years, and then he'd avoided her for two weeks. She didn't regret the decision to make Kabuto wait in spite of his complaints. Though she did decide to make an effort to be more prompt in future.

She was rapidly learning, some things she hadn't thought possible. It was all actually very fascinating to her. She was soon surpassing Tsunade as a healer and her new mentor was quite pleased with her advancement. She still didn't relax around Kabuto however. She'd even met Orochimaru a few times, even though the Sannin made her extremely nervous. He could probably tell even though she hid it well. Sasuke was the only one that she felt almost completely comfortable with. In ways it was almost like before he left, although he was still pretty much cut off emotionally. In all honesty, that wasn't very different from before he left Konoha. She had noticed she saw him more often, and sometimes he would actually greet her like before. The jerk did still call her annoying, although after Kabuto's praise of her, the word weak was conspicuously absent. She smiled thinking of this development.

It was only a couple of days after that, that Orochimaru himself asked to see her. She noticed that both Sasuke and Kabuto were also present. Orochimaru smiled at her, inwardly she cringed thinking the motion made him look sick and constipated. She didn't voice this observation. "You're doing well at the medical training, Sakura, but your battle skills are still inept." Orochimaru looked at Sasuke,"train her." It wasn't a question.  
Sasuke glared at Orochimaru and looked as if he'd like to argue, but said nothing and simply nodded, albeit grudgingly. Sakura showed no emotion, although inside she felt very happy for this opportunity to learn and to spend time with Sasuke, instead of that freak Kabuto.  
Sasuke motioned for her to follow him and she complied silently. He said nothing but led her to a training room with a wall of weapons. He allowed her to look around and become acquainted with the room. She couldn't help but think how much patience he was showing her. 'Don't make too much of it,' she thought, 'he's probably only acting that way as an excuse to not have to speak to you, after all, he didn't want to do this.'  
He motioned toward the wall, "choose one."  
She looked over all the weapons and asked," Does it have to be a katana?"  
"No."  
She smiled and chose the sais. Not just because they were a teammate's namesake. They looked light, would give her use of both arms, and looked sturdy enough to take on a katana. He pulled out his sword, "begin."  
It was on.  
A short while later, both were out of breath and sweating profusely. She beamed as the lesson finished. "So Sasuke, let me guess, weak and annoying."  
He smirked,"hn. Improving."

They'd practiced for what seemed like hours. Sakura didn't think she'd ever worked out that hard. The sais she'd chosen were made to be infused with chakra as well, so she'd run out of chakra before her lesson was up. Sasuke wasn't surprised. He'd commented that she didn't have enough chakra. She didn't know exactly what he thought she could do about that. In actual battle it simply meant that she wouldn't infuse them unless they were penetrating a foe. The next morning, she was very much regretting her hard workout. She was sore all over, and took a little longer with her hot shower. She healed her sore muscles as much as possible during the shower. She was glad she did as she had to hurry through breakfast to go and train more with Sasuke. Her speed was also a problem, Sasuke forced her to wear leg weights that started out small and got heavier gradually over time. He fully expected her to keep up her speed with them on, she surprised herself by managing to do just that. While she was enjoying her time with Sasuke and learning all the fighting techniques and jutsus he taught her, she also realized that her fast paced learning was also shortening her time with him. She resolved herself to it. She really had no choice, with Sasuke it was learn fast or die trying. Though she had to admit, she was ten times stronger than she'd ever been. That part she didn't regret, but she knew the second worse day of her life was coming and fast. The day she'd have to leave him.  
Soon Kabuto came to her. He informed her that they'd made the decision to have a Yin Seal put on her. Her eyes widened, 'just like Tsunade,' she thought. Kabuto immediately took her to his medical wing and began the procedure. It was a risk, after all, if her body rejected it, she could die. Luckily there were no complications. She began immediately storing chakra inside the crystal and learning all associated jutsus. Unlike Tsunade, she'd had hers put in between her breasts. For her it made more sense not to reveal that in battle immediately unless she had to use it. Although she would never judge Tsunade for putting hers on her forehead, after all, Tsunade did gain a certain intimidation factor from doing just that. She did have some creep factor about the location of her Yin Seal, however, Kabuto wasn't what she'd envisioned for the first man to ever see her chest. To his credit, he kept it very professional.

Sasuke also helped her further improve her genjutsu and jutsus to dispel them. It did seem like he wanted to fully prepare her for Itachi should he decide to try to carry out his threat. Sakura simply had to keep reminding herself of Sasuke's motivations. It would be too easy to actually think that he actually cared for her. She'd already learned through bitter experience that that wasn't the case. Sometimes late at night, she'd indulge her weaker side and pretend though.

She'd been with Sasuke for four months at that point, and they'd absolutely flew by with everything she was learning. Her body had become even more lean and muscled. Her confidence got higher and her abilities were much better. She was still nervous about what to do if and when she had to leave. Would she still be welcome in Konoha? She still thought about Naruto and the Team 7 days often, although when she thought about Sasuke, it wasn't the boy that she'd had a crush on she saw, it was the man he was today. Sasuke took her outside that day. She knew her stay was ending.


	3. Winds of Change

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sakura looked at Sasuke, waiting for him to say the dreaded words that it was time for her to go. They never came, instead he smirked at her. She gave a little smile, he'd known her assumption and it was an incorrect one. Relieved, she actually enjoyed the grueling training. She'd began to notice a change in the atmosphere around the lair. Sasuke was even more withdrawn, Kabuto was extremely focused on Orochimaru, and Orochimaru was no where to be found. Kabuto clued her into the fact that Orochimaru needed a new body and soon, she didn't need to be told who's body the snake had in mind.  
It was only a few days later, Sasuke absorbed Orochimaru and freed Suigetsu. He'd once again left her and not bothered to say goodbye. Sakura took that as the sign she'd been waiting for and went back to Konoha. The unfortunate side effect was that all of her emotional wounds that had managed to be healed by being with him, were now reopened and seeping blood. As much as she looked forward to seeing Naruto and Kakashi, part of her would have rather went with Sasuke, but that option hadn't been offered to her. She knew she should simply be glad that she'd gotten to be with him for as long as she was, even if it wasn't the way she'd wanted. She at least had her closure, and the book of her and Sasuke was closed as far as she was concerned. It was painful, but she knew that this time she would be able to heal and move on. He'd also made her strong, something that she'd always wanted, and at least she knew that he no longer felt she was weak.

Sakura arrived at the Konoha in a little more cheerful spirits. She had no idea if they knew she'd been with Sasuke or thought her dead. She did remember the katana cutting her hands and knew there would've been blood on the scene. At that point, her only hope was that if they did piece together her whereabouts that she wasn't a S class criminal as a result. The guards at the gate had called for Team Kakashi at her arrival. Naruto was the first face from her old team that she saw. Her tears overflowed as he'd raced for her with tears in his own eyes. For once, she didn't clobber him for his strong embrace, in fact, she was sure she might have to heal him for the bone crushing hug he'd received in return. Kakashi let the two have their reunion and Sakura could tell even with his mask on that he was smiling. She smiled at her former sensei over Naruto's shoulder her smile growing so wide that it almost hurt her face.  
They'd visited Tsunade first. Tsunade had actually broke into tears herself at the first site of the pinkette. Sakura had hugged the woman for a full five minutes, actually shocked at the greeting but pleased nonetheless. They hadn't believed her dead, although subconsciously they'd all feared it. They had sensed Sasuke's presence there, but didn't know where she'd went. She simply told them about all that had befallen her. Naruto had actually listened quietly to her entire story, but bombarded her with questions about Sasuke the second she'd finished her tale.  
Under normal circumstances, she would've been chakra banded upon return, but due to Itachi's threat, they'd simply put her on probation for a year, and suspended her from missions for the same duration. Naruto had been disappointed, he'd been looking forward to having his best friend back for missions. Sakura had as well, but there was no help for it. Regardless of happiness of having her back, the reality was, she'd willingly joined with a missing nin and lived for months in the company of S Class criminals. Technically her punishment was a slap on the wrist, so she really couldn't complain.  
It was a while before she felt close to normal in the village, going to Ichiraku's with Naruto became a regular thing. It had actually really became one of her favorite things to do as well. Then the rumors started that Sasuke had completed his revenge and she was happy for him. She did hope that he would come back once his revenge was complete, but apparently he'd had other plans because that didn't seem to be the case. Then he'd been spotted in Akatsuki robes and Sakura got nervous. She just couldn't figure out why he would join the very organization that his hated older brother had belonged to. It didn't seem right and she worried that Sasuke might have lost his mind. Even though she still thought and worried about him, her hurt and feelings toward him were lessening a little at a time. She could even smile genuinely and laugh with her friends, an occurence that before the time she'd spent with Sasuke, wouldn't have been at all possible. She realized that she'd needed him to heal her, and he had. She understood him more, and as a result, herself.

Then came the invasion of Konoha by the Akatsuki and Sasuke. Sakura was still on probation and was visiting Temari and Gaara in the Sand Village when word of what was happening hit. She raced home, both her friends wanted to come, but in reality, Gaara was the Kazekage of the Sand and couldn't come because he was considered too important. Temari however had no such reasons not too, so she accompanied Sakura, as well as many fighters from the Sand Village. It did help to tip the direction of the battle a little more in Konoha's favor. The village was completely destroyed when they arrived, many were dead. Pain had just converted after being defeated by Naruto so alot of the casualties were brought back. Sasuke was still waging war somewhere and Sakura sought him out. He'd changed, and was currently in the process of stabbing Danzo through Karin. Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. Sasuke looked at her, the coldness and hate she saw in those swirling red eyes chilled her to the bone. What the hell had happened to cause that. It was as if he was a different person. She implemented the jutsus he'd taught her to see through to what was real and what she saw scared her more than she'd ever been in her life. It was as if Sasuke was two people, he was still there, but she saw the behavior of Itachi as well. She managed to save Karin and felt as if she had no choice but to take him out. He wouldn't have wanted this, and she had to do it for him. A single tear slipped out and dropped unnoticed. She prepared for battle.

Before she'd had a chance to move, Sasuke had ran toward her, grabbing her into his arms, he'd teleported her outside of town. She pulled out her sais and faced him, her green eyes mirroring her deadly intent. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to try to see what the hell happened to him before taking action. His demeanor seemed a little less threatening now that the battle wasn't raging around them.  
"Why? What happened, Sasuke?"  
"Sakura," she shivered at the way he purred her name,"I know, the Leaf Village were the ones who ordered the deaths of the Uchiha Clan. It was a mission, that's why he killed them."  
She gasped, "but... why? If that were the case, why wouldn't they have killed you? I'm sorry, but it doesn't make sense..."  
"Danzo admitted it Sakura."  
Her brows knitted in confusion, trying to make sense of the information she'd just been given. She looked up at him after only a moment. "Well, in that case, I hope you get the elders responsible, the third hokage is already dead, but the villagers and ninja of the Leaf aren't guilty of this Sasuke. With the way I felt and Naruto felt about you... do you think that we're guilty too then? That Naruto or myself should die, Sasuke?"  
She dropped her head at the last question, not bearing to look at him already knowing what his answer would likely be based on his own insanity. This couldn't be the truth, it just couldn't, but she met his eyes again and knew. It didn't matter, in his mind it was the truth, therefore everyone would be judged guilty in his eyes. She felt another tear slip out but brushed it away. She was done crying over this man, no more tears. He'd gotten enough of them to last a life time.  
He looked away, thoughtful. She could tell he was debating. She was finished waiting, he wanted blood, he'd get it. After all, Sasuke-kun always got what he wanted didn't he. She started to approach him, dropping her weapons as she came. His eyes widened and for a moment he looked at her as if she'd gone completely insane, and maybe she had.  
"I thank you for everything you've ever done for me. You've been a good friend and teammate." She got on her knees in front of him. "I guess you need more people to make pay... If you've judged me guilty as well because of where I was born, then have your vengeance, just know that I meant it back when I told you I loved you, and it's that girl that does this for you now. Goodbye Sasuke-kun."  
She put her head down, looked at his feet, offering her neck. She knew he understood what she was saying. She squeezed her eyes shut, seeing her life flash before her eyes. He hadn't moved, was still standing before her. She wished that if he was going to end her, that he'd get it over with.  
She heard his sword hit the ground beside her and glanced at it. He'd dropped it in the dirt. She looked up, expecting to see a kunai in his hand. Instead she saw eyes black as night framed with tears, and Itachi was gone. She blinked at him, unsure of what she was seeing being real. For once, the pink haired kunoichi was at a complete loss for words. She wanted to hold him but was afraid to touch him, 'what the hell', she thought, 'I was ready to let him kill me a second ago, now I'm afraid to touch him? Argh.'  
She slowly rose to her feet and without saying a word, embraced Sasuke. He stiffened at first, 'typical Sasuke reaction,' she thought almost feeling a grin form on her own lips, but not quite making it, but then she felt his arms rise and embrace her back. She couldn't resist saying something,"Oh I see... you decided to shock me to death by hugging me back huh."  
The man actually let out a very small chuckle.  
"I can't stay here Sakura. Danzo and the elders are dead, but..."  
She nodded and pulled back to look at him. He looked back in her eyes, the minuscule tears from a couple of minutes before had dried up. She smiled, "no knocking me out this time."  
He smirked and she smiled wider, "Ok, so tell me I'm annoying and leave already before AMBUs get here, I won't scream or sound any alarms this time."  
"You're annoying."  
She waved and turned back toward the village.  
"And I want you to come with me this time."  
She froze for a second and then swung around back to face him, her eyes as big as saucers. "What did you say? I'm sure I didn't hear you right."  
He blushed," come with me?"  
Her smile lit up like the fourth of July. She could only nod as she slipped her hand in his as they teleported away.  
From a distance Kakashi and Naruto watched the exchange. They were going to miss Sakura, but they had a feeling that she was just the thing needed to keep Sasuke in check. Besides, they both knew that she would be happy, although it was nerve racking when she put herself at a possibly crazed Sasuke's mercy like that.  
Naruto and Kakashi walked back to the village, Naruto couldn't be late to his own party, after all, wasn't everyday he got made hokage.

Epilogue:

Somewhere in a remote fishing village, a very pregnant pinkette was greeted by her husband of about a year. He smirked and kissed her big belly. They watched the sun set over the water as they stood in each other's arms, both happy, just as a certain kunoichi promised so long ago.


End file.
